Paris, 1923
by fie
Summary: A young slayer confronts her worst enemy alone below the streets of Paris. Could this have a cameo by William the Bloody? You decide.


Silence, all is silence. She walked alone through the sewers far below the streets of France. A very reliable and very dead source had pointed her in this direction, and she left her home of London to follow her prey.  
  
She had been hunting a particular vampire named William. He had grown an infatuation with Emma that she would have taken as flattery, but he took it too far. In the matter of two weeks, Emma's life went from best to worst. Eight months ago, she had been visited by a Watcher's Council representative and was told she had been gifted powers. She didn't question where they came from but she used them well in the fight against darkness. The council told her where to point the stake and she thrust. She was quite proud of herself. She often overheard Watchers talk of how well she was doing.  
  
After six months of training, she improved her skills and accuracy. She prided herself on her efficiency and never let a vampire escape. That is why she often patrolled without her watcher, so she wouldn't have to worry about babysitting another person. She didn't have a close relationship with her ancient watcher and he accepted that. She walked the streets of London alone when the sun disappeared behind the horizon and all the beasties came out. She built a reputation as a ruthless hunter who killed all demons she knew about. She even hunted for dormant demons that didn't cause much trouble; they were dead for not being human. "Demon is demon" her watcher said, "and the slayer is chosen to rid the earth of every last one".  
  
Her reputation caused two reactions. Most vampires fled from London, afraid of their fate if they accidentally attacked her. They saw her as a bloodthirsty predator, but she was only doing her job. She just made sure she did it well.  
  
The second reaction was shared only by a small percent of cocky demons, demons that thought they could kill her. They appeared about once a month to throw threats like "I'll eat your eyeballs" or "I'll turn you and make you a demon like me". All of them died.  
  
One month ago, two equally powerful vampires made a pact to kill her. After a week of observation on both sides, they managed to lure Emma to an abandoned church by kidnapping her watcher. They tied her up and tortured her for a couple hours until she flipped a bowl of holy water onto one and made an escape that left the church in smoldering ruins.  
  
This month's villain was William. He had been stalking her so well; she only knew his face from her Bestiary book given to her by the Watcher's Council. He followed her on patrol and always evaded capture, which annoyed, as well as chilled her. He had the audacity to send vampire messengers during the day to her doorstep. They always delivered the same message: "Love from Sir William" as they exploded into a fiery ash.  
  
From all this information and the little facts from her books, Emma came to a conclusion. William had killed four Slayers before her, had hypnotic powers, and loved to get under her skin. For all the reasons, and especially the last, Emma knew he had to die.  
  
She hunted him. When she patrolled, she tried her best to out-think him but he was faster. She would take 10 minutes to pretend she was looking for vampires other than him, but found nothing when she pinpointed his location. She would come home each night frustrated. Never before had she had so much trouble with one vampire.  
  
After four days of this tiresome hunting, she reverted to her old schedule. If she couldn't find him now, he may slip up later. She would just have to continue doing her job. After a few days of traditional patrolling, Emma came home to find that William is not easily ignored.  
  
She walked home satisfied, having the weight of five dead vampires on her mind. She walked through her gate and found the most peculiar thing hanging on her door; it was a red heart of paper. Concerned, she carefully entered her home. She kept the lights off and prowled the first floor without luck. She climbed the stairs prepared for an attack that never came. Creeping into the main bedroom, which housed her and her watcher's beds, she saw someone asleep on her watcher's side. She took a sigh of relief until she noticed a problem. It may have been her imagination but his chest wasn't rising. Whoever was under the covers didn't seem to be breathing.  
  
She snuck over to the edge of the bed and clicked on the side lamp. As soon as the light flickered on, it was flung across the room. It was her watcher, but he had been changed. He now held the demonic visage of a vampire. She jumped to the back wall with surprise and was pinned by her ex- mentor.  
  
"Liam," she strained "no". His cold hands gripped her shoulders and pushed her harder into the wall.  
  
"Good evening" Liam replied. "Love from Sir William" he added with a smile as he aimed for her neck.  
  
"I'm so sorry" Emma said as she jammed the stake through his heart. She thought about all the times they spent together. He had a family and life-long friends. She shed a single tear. Avoiding William wouldn't be enough. He must die.  
  
Later that week she spoke at Liam's funeral service. She knew his colleagues hated her. They said they didn't blame her for his death but she knew they thought otherwise. This was the first time in her life any human had hated her. It didn't feel good, she would end that. William had embarrassed her in front of the council and herself. His goal was to throw her off and it worked, she knew it. He will die.  
  
She questioned every vampire she met before killing them. They understood that they would never be released alive, so they stopped talking. She had stooped so far as to pay the filthy things to give her miniscule clues. The only escape for her was the death of them. She would kill them all, like Liam said.  
  
She must have staked six a night, each with no information except the last. She had him pinned to the ground and milliseconds before she staked him he shouted "Paris!" and he flew with the wind. France? Was this the first good lead?  
  
Emma pondered this on her walk to her house and stopped two blocks from her street. She had heard of a tracking spell, maybe it could work. She ran the rest of the length and snatched the red heart William left. Tearing through her doorway she made her way to a demonic bar, one she knew about and cleaned every time she was bored.  
  
She caught her breath and drew herself up. A normal human would have dismissed this place as a cheap pub, with its filthy painted-over windows. They couldn't see the green demons walking in and out through the sewer entrance, as well as the vampires. Emma thought about this as she entered through the rotten door.  
  
The crowd quickly thinned as terrified demons made hasty escapes through the back door. She tried not to become disgusted with the plethora of faces and lack of. She scanned the room and found her guy in the far corner, drinking a brandy. Striding over to him, she sat quickly and pulled out the red heart and the remainder of her money.  
  
"Find him" is all she said.  
  
She left five minutes later with the information she needed and dust in her hair. Instead of returning home, she stopped by the Council headquarters and requested a boat ticket to Paris, France. Three hours later she was in standing on the deck, watching her home fade further into the distance. A tear slid down her cheek.  
Trudging through the muck of the sewer, Emma thought about her life. She remembered her humble childhood and old friends. Her parents' death and life on the streets. Being chosen as the Slayer and all the good she's done through the death of others. Never in her life had she thought about her death, but walking through these tunnels gave her the time to think. She was all alone. If she died, who would mourn her? She didn't want to think of these morbid things, but she couldn't help it. William had ruined her life and was poisoning her mind. Damn him.  
  
Emma dug through her pockets and found her only navigator, a paper with the words "left, right, right, center, left, left, left". These were the directions the dead demon in the pub had given her days earlier. Taking the center fork she only had two more steps left. She cleared her mind of everything and pushed onward and winced through a terrible stench. She knew it as the smell of death, decay, and blood. She was on the right track.  
  
Left. One more to go. She checked her pockets for her stakes and readied her sword. She crept up to the last turn like a cat ready to pounce. She inched toward the corner and snuck a peek. It was a dead end. Were the directions correct, she wondered, but then something caught her eye at the end of the tunnel: a red heart. Picking up the pace, she strode over to William's calling card and plucked it off the brick. Puzzled, she looked up; there was a manhole.  
  
She composed herself and sprung to the opening, grasping both edges. Grunting, she clumsily pulled herself through and collapsed on the floor. She drew herself up and looked around the dark room. It was lit with red candles and silks were hanging from the ceiling. She was in the right place.  
  
She sheathed her sword and pulled out a stake as she kept her back to the wall, ready for an attack. She made a half-circle around the room when she found something disturbing. A large patch of wall was covered with the fruit of William's stalkings. Charcoal drawings of herself covered the majority of the wall, pictures of herself hunting, talking, and sleeping. A horrible chill ran up her spine as she lowered her stake and took a step back, mouth open.  
  
"Good evening, Emma" a chilling voice with an English accent said from behind her. She jumped and flipped around, but was grabbed before she could raise her stake. It was easily batted from her hand as William grabbed hold of her wrist and squeezed. She was too afraid to make a move; she simply stared into his murderous, charming eyes.  
  
"Admiring my pictures?" he added, obviously enjoying the look of horror on her face. "You are a wonderful subject."  
  
"You" Emma gasped as she filled with a mixture of hatred and fear. She tried to free her wrist but William gripped tighter. Emma slunk in his arms like a puppet. William's smile grew but she continued to look him straight in the eyes. He could have hypnotized her into submission but he enjoyed her struggle. Emma tried again to free herself and William again squeezed. She stifled her scream as her wrist cracked, William released it and it fell limply to her side. Emma's knees became weak and William pulled her closer.  
  
"Poor little Slayer, all alone in a big world full of nasties," he said pulling back her hair. "William will fix that."  
  
With those last words he sunk his teeth into her neck and drained the only thing she had left, her blood. As she stared at the ceiling her life flashed before her. She truly was alone. She became light-headed and could feel no more pain. The room around her faded into darkness. Silence, all is silence. 


End file.
